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The Pardee RAND Graduate School (PRGS.edu) is the largest public policy Ph.D. program in the nation and the only program based at an independent public policy research organization—the RAND Corporation.

Student Spotlight

Center for the Study of Aging

The RAND Center for the Study of Aging conducts objective, independent, behavioral research on elderly populations worldwide.

The Center's interdisciplinary research staff aims to help improve public policy through both primary data collection and secondary data analysis. Its research agenda focuses on the interrelationships among health, economic status, socioeconomic factors, and public policy.

News and Events

While the rapid aging of China's population is thought to condemn the nation to a dismal future, past policies on education and new policies to improve health and foster internal migration could ease the challenges posed by an older citizenry.

The Group of 8 industrial nations is convening a special session to seek an international approach to dementia research at a time the disease is being recognized as a 21st century global health crisis of historic proportions.

Spending declines at small rates at retirement, rates that could be explained by mechanisms such as the cessation of work-related expenses, unexpected retirement due to a health shock or by the substitution of time for spending.

What effect has the financial crisis had on households and health? RAND researchers seek to quantify the effects of the crisis on older U.S. households, and the adjustments made in response. With this information, they aim to determine whether downturns in economic status are associated with declines in health.

To understand what influences life satisfaction in different countries, it is important to correct for cultural differences in how people answer subjective questions. The RAND Center for the Study of Aging is attempting to increase the comparability of response scales across national boundaries.

By using newly available data from more than 15 countries, researchers are analyzing how the interaction between individual behavior, social context, institutions, and policies shapes health and well-being in old age.

Researcher Spotlight

Director, RAND Center for the Study of Aging

Michael Hurd is a senior principal researcher at the RAND Corporation, where he directs the RAND Center for the Study of Aging. Hurd's research focuses on the economics of retirement, social security and social welfare systems, inheritance and bequests, and other topics related to aging and the…

Public Events

The Center for the Study of Aging, Population Research Center, and RAND Health cosponsor occasional seminars on a variety of research topics, with guest speakers from research centers and universities worldwide. The seminars are open to the public.

The RAND Corporation is a research organization that develops solutions to public policy challenges to help make communities throughout the world safer and more secure, healthier and more prosperous. RAND is nonprofit, nonpartisan, and committed to the public interest.